


Five Mornings Derek Really Needed His Coffee and One Morning He Didn’t

by 42hrb



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 5 Things, 5+1, 5+1 Things, Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Human, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Derek-centric, Everyone Is Alive, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Pining Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-04-22 22:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4853099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/42hrb/pseuds/42hrb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knows that Derek can't be considered a real person until he has at least two cups of coffee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second Sterek coffee shop AU because I AM HUMAN TRASH AND I CAN'T STOP MYSELF.
> 
> Not beta-read so I'm sorry about any mistakes.

 

No one, and he meant no one when he said it, should speak to him before he has his first cup of coffee.He has his routine back in New York but not one for when he visited his hometown and his parents.  Usually there's coffee already made when he wakes up whenever he visits but apparently today was different. “Derek, honey,” his mom said in her gentlest voice, knowing full well that Derek would be a miserable excuse for a human until he had his coffee, “we ran out of coffee before you woke up, I left you some money on the counter to run to the shop down the road and get some.”

He grunted in response as he looked at his phone, it was already almost eleven.He had been out late with some of his buddies from high school celebrating Boyd's engagement, and hadn’t gotten home until late.The sky outside was grey and looked like it might snow, which made sense since it was nearing the end of December. He pulled on his jeans from the night before and a green sweater before heading downstairs. 

The house was empty, which made sense, his dad would be at work already, Laura wasn’t getting in until the next day and Cora had said something about meeting up with some friends and his mom was probably doing some last minute Christmas shopping.He threw on his leather jacket and headed out to his car, pocketing the money his mom left him on the counter. 

The coffee shop might as well have been a Beacon Hills landmark, everyone and their mother went to the Grind, Derek had been going since his sophomore year of high school.He liked to avoid it whenever he was back in town because going in meant seeing people and people meant he had to socialize. It wasn’t that Derek didn’t like people, he didn’t mind them but he needed at least two cups of coffee before he could stomach Mrs. Clarke’s excited squeak that he was home for the holidays.

When he reached the door he peered into the shop with relief, there were a few people sitting at tables around the shop but no one was standing in line. He walked up to the counter and was greeted by a lopsided smile and a ‘Welcome to the Grind what can I get for you today?”

“Large black coffee,” He grunted out as he handed the guy behind the counter his money. 

“Usually people say please after they order,” Said a voice that was somewhat familiar. 

Derek turned his head to see his sister sitting at a table with some of her friends from high school, the voice belonged to the Stilinski kid, well he wasn’t really a kid anymore.Derek hadn’t seen him in four years, not since Cora’s senior prom and high school graduation, they had all gone in the same group and had hung around the Hale house all throughout high school. 

Cora laughed at the look on Derek’s face, “He’s not a real person yet Stiles, he hasn’t had his coffee.”

“Well he should still say please, poor Scotty doesn’t get paid enough to deal with rude people.” Stiles said with a small wave at the kid behind the counter who Derek now recognized as Scott McCall, another one of Cora’s friends from high school.

As Derek glanced over his shoulder he saw that Scott was holding out his coffee with the same dopey, lopsided grin on his face.“Thank you.” Derek said without a smile, louder than he normally would have so that the table of Cora’s friends would hear him. 

“Ah he knows how to use manners, I knew your brother wasn’t raised by wolves Cor.” Stiles said with a laugh.Cora grinned at Derek, he glared at her and then took a sip of his coffee.He felt his headache start to subside almost immediately. 

“You can join us Der.” Cora said, gesturing toward the empty seat next to Stiles.He shrugged before flopping into the seat. “You remember Stiles, Isaac and Allison?” Cora asked him as he took another sip of his coffee, it was still too hot to drink properly but he really didn’t care.

He grunted a hello at the group and they went back to their conversation seeing that he wasn’t going to speak until he was done with his cup.“I’m just glad you made it back Stiles,” Allison said with a wide, dimply smile.“It sucked not having you home at Thanksgiving.”

“The struggle of going to school clear across the country.” Stiles said with a grin, “Don’t you all worry your pretty little heads though, Lydia came down for the weekend and we ate takeout and went to the Macy’s Parade, it’s basically tradition after all these years.” 

Derek looked up from the spot on the table that he had been staring at, Stiles must go to school in New York. Cora saw him looking at said, “Maybe next year you guys can include my grumpy older brother, he usually spends Thanksgiving alone in the city.”

“I’m not alone, I’m usually in my office grading or working on my dissertation.” Derek said with a frown, he wasn’t grumpy. “And I’m not grumpy.”

“Yes you are,” Cora said laughing, “I’m just glad that Stiles and Lydia have each other over on the east coast, I hate thinking about them all alone on Thanksgiving.”

“Where are you working on your PhD?” Allison asked as a way to diffuse some of the tension that had started to form.

“Columbia,” Derek said shortly before receiving a kick under table from Cora, “Comparative literature.”

“Cool,” Isaac said with a smile, it also had dimples, why did all of Cora’s friends have dimples? “How far along are you?”

“I’m in my third year of the program, so I have to finish this year of classes before they set me lose and I can work full time.” Derek said, he was feeling more like himself now that his first cup of coffee was almost gone.

“Stiles goes to Columbia too,” A new voice said as Lydia Martin joined the group, kissing Cora as she sat down.“Hi everyone.”

“What are you studying?” Derek asked Stiles at Cora and Lydia chatted and Isaac and Allison gazed longingly into each others eyes (ew). Stiles looked relieved to look away from the two couples at the table.

“Criminal psychology and English literature with a minor in mythological studies.” Stiles said with a grin.Derek was impressed, most kids barely got by with a major and a minor at Columbia and here was this kid with two majors and a minor and no bags under his eyes.He looked like he had slept through most of finals week, not pulled an all-nighter trying to get through it.

“Impressive,” Derek said with a nod and small smile, “I went to Columbia for undergrad and then NYU for my masters and now I’m back at Columbia again.” 

“Did you fall in love with the city that never sleeps?” Stiles said with a laugh.

In truth Derek liked New York because people generally left him alone when he wanted to be and because he loved his schools, “I think I’ll move back to this coast after I finish my doctorate.”

“Miss your family?” Stiles asked with a smaller, more personal smile.

“Yeah, I do.Laura was living out in Philly until last year but she just moved to San Francisco because her law firm offered her a position as partner.”Derek explained, he missed having Laura on the east coast with him, he was a little more lonely than he cared to admit without his older sister just a few hours away.

“I get that, I miss my dad and Scott like crazy while I’m gone.” Stiles said with a gesture toward Scott who was chatting with a pretty Asian girl at the counter. “He’s basically my brother, well actually he’s my step-brother now which is cool, but we’ve been friends since pre-k.”

Derek smiled again as he took his last sip of coffee. The door opened again and in walked another guy that Derek recognized from Cora’s group in high school.He had no idea how they all managed to stay friends for so long, they were all seniors in college and had dated each other in high school.He could barely look at Paige or Jordan anymore after he had broken up with them, let alone stay close friends.

He was watching Stiles now who was taking a long sip of his coffee and smiling at the newcomer.“Dannnnnnnny,” Stiles said with a grin as he stood up to greet the guy whose was _all dimples._ Jesus it was like all of Cora’s friends had stepped out of a Disney movie or something. He vaguely remembered Danny as the one friend of Cora’s who was out during high school and who had helped Cora come to terms with her own sexuality so he liked the kid well enough.

Or he liked Danny well enough until Stiles threw his arms around the other guys neck and kissed him long and hard. Of course he has a boyfriend, Stiles is clearly smart and funny and very good looking, there was really no way that he was single but that didn’t stop the feeling of lead in his stomach.He stood up to give Danny his seat and said, “I’m going to head out, I’ll see you at home Cor.It was nice seeing all of you.”He practically ran to the door and didn’t stop until he was in his car. 

 

He was sitting in the dining room, his MacBook open in front of him and a tray of Christmas cookies next to him when Cora came home.“Do you wanna tell me why you ran out of the coffee shop this morning or should I just guess?”

“I had to work on my dissertation.” Derek said looking up from the laptop where he had been dicking around on Facebook for the past hour.“I’m really busy.”

Cora laughed, “It didn’t have _anything_ to do with the fact that you spent twenty minutes flirting and eye fucking Stiles and then his boyfriend showed up?”

“I couldn’t care less about Stiles and Danny.” Derek said trying to keep his voice even.In truth he had always noticed Stiles, well he had noticed him when he was a junior and senior in high school but by then Derek was finishing up college and only around during the summer and holiday breaks. This was the first time he had seen Stiles since Cora and him were finishing high school and he couldn’t help but notice that he had managed to get even better looking.

“Whatever you say big brother.” Cora said with a smirk, “I’m not sure how long they’ll last though, they’ve been trying long distance since they got together this summer and from what I hear from both of them and Lydia they aren’t doing so hot.”

“Like I said,” Derek said trying to keep his voice even, “I really don’t care.”And he tried to tell himself that he didn’t, but he couldn’t help the feeling in his stomach, it felt a lot like hope. 

 

 

 


	2. Two

Derek had managed to get through the rest of the holidays without incident due mostly to the fact that his mom had made sure the house was stocked to the nines with his favorite coffee blend.He was safely back in New York by January 3rd and had settled easily back into his routine of waking up with just enough time to get to the coffee shop on his way to campus and then to his class before teaching on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons.  

He had somehow managed to get back from the library before two one Thursday mid February which meant that he woke up early enough to go to the good coffee shop on campus before his 11 am class. He was wearing his usual dark jeans and black v-neck shirt with his leather jacked and a scarf.He didn’t care how much shit he got from Cora and Laura about it they kept his neck warm and he didn’t care if it made him look like a hipster douche and **no** he wouldn’t get different glasses he liked his just fine. 

The line wasn’t too long when he got there which was a relief, he had already finished his travel mug of coffee from his apartment and he needed one more cup before he subjected himself to teaching undergraduate students.“No fucking way,” A voice said from behind him and the familiar face of Stiles Stilinski loomed into view.“I never see you on campus, _never_ and yet here you are.I was starting to think you lied about going here.”

“It’s a big school,” Derek grunted as he stepped up the register and order his coffee making sure to say please after.He saw Stiles smile out of the corner of his eye.

“Cora’s right, you really aren’t a functioning human without your coffee.” Stiles said after he ordered his drink (large Americano with a splash of cream).  

“And you are?” Derek asked him as he grabbed his drink off the counter with a, “Thank you.”

“Well to be completely fair most people don’t think I’m ever a functioning human.” Stiles said with a wide grin. “This isn’t your usual coffee shop.” He pointed out as he took his drink off the counter with a thank you as well.

“Usually I’m running too late to come to this one and I have to stop at the diner right off campus.” Derek explained, “Coffee isn’t great but it gets the job done.”

“I’m at this shop pretty much every day,” Stiles said as he took a seat at a table near the back, Derek followed, he still had almost 45 minutes before he needed to be in class and this coffee shop was only a five minute walk to the classroom. “Worth every penny.” Stiles said as he took a swig of his drink and made a noise that should have been in a porno. 

“How’s your semester going?” Derek asked after he took a sip of his coffee and smiled slightly into the cup.

“Long,” Stiles said running a hand over his face, he looked tired, more tired than he had over the holidays, “But it’s my last one before graduation so it’s all good. I’m having more issues with my personal life than I am with school to be honest.”

Derek was a little surprised with Stiles candor but then again he remembered the Stiles from Beacon Hills who talked and talked but didn’t really say much.Maybe he was just glad to have a familiar face. “What are you post grad plans?”

“I will be subjecting myself to another two years of education here at Columbia and getting my masters in criminal psych.” Stiles said taking a long sip of his coffee before continuing, “Which apparently is a dump-able offense.” 

“I’m sorry,” Derek said, and he really was sorry.Stiles look stressed and exhausted and a breakup don’t help that at all. He looked up at Stiles who was busy taking another long drink before setting his cup down.

“I’ll live, we wouldn’t have worked out anyways,” and he sounded like he meant it. “Danny’s a great guy, a great friend, but honestly it always kinda felt like it was having sex with a cousin or something. NOT that I’ve had sex with my cousins.” Stiles said his voice going up an octave and Derek laughed, he actually laughed.He couldn’t remember that last time he had laughed before finishing his second cup of coffee. 

“Mmm sure you haven’t,” Derek said with a shit eating grin on his face. “I’ve heard all about you Stilinski.”

“Lies and slander,” Stiles said with a laugh and they fell into easy conversation.It was the first time in a long time that Derek felt comfortable enough to just sit and talk to someone that he really didn’t know.He tended to be more closed off around people he didn’t know well. 

“And then Scott walked out of the room looking like someone had just killed his puppy and Isaac ran out after him holding a pillow over his junk begging for forgiveness.” Stiles said with a laugh, his eyes bright.“Honestly I don’t know what he was expecting when he walked into the room, Isaac and Allison had been dating for like two months already.”

Derek laughed too, hard.He knew all of the people in the story and he could just see Scott’s face, his big puppy eyes wide with shock. “You’re friend group is something else.” Derek said after he had stopped laughing. 

“It’s all a bit incest-y,” Stiles said nodding in agreement.

“You’re not helping your case about sleeping with your cousin,” Derek said with a smirk and then he glanced down at his phone and saw that he had seven minutes to get to his class. “Oh shit, I’ve gotta go,” Derek said standing up and smiling at Stiles, “It was really great seeing you, maybe we’ll run into each other again.”

Stiles smiled back and said, “I sure hope so.”

 

Derek looked down at his phone that was buzzing on his kitchen counter and saw the name ‘Cora’ on the screen.“What,” he said by way of a greeting.

“Hello to you to Der.” Cora said with a laugh.  

“What do you want Cora, I’m making dinner.” Derek said as he flipped the chicken that he was cooking and stirred the noodles. 

“I hear you saw Stiles today.” She said and he could practically see her smirk over the phone. “Gonna see him again?”

“We bumped into each other at a coffee shop today.” Derek said with a half smile, “Completely by chance.”

“And then talked to him for almost an hour?” Cora said.Derek huffed, she must have talked to Stiles already today.

“Yeah, I had time.” 

“I think you should hang out with him again,” Cora said and before Derek could protest she added, “He’s single now and you have a crush on him, don’t argue you know that you do.”

“Don’t tell him,” Derek practically whined into the phone.“I don’t even know him, not really.”

“But you want to.”

“Yeah and if I run into him again I’ll ask for him number,” Derek said like he was trying to convince himself.

“I could just give it to you.”

“No!” Derek yelled, “I want to get it myself.”

“Whatever you say bro,” Cora said and then added, “Enjoy your dinner.”

“Night.” Derek said as he hung up and then leaned back on the counter, his chicken sizzling in the pan. He was so fucked. 

 


	3. Three

****Derek loved the spring, when he could get away with not wearing a jacket, just a light sweater. He had his coffee in his hand and he was walking toward the library.It was finals week so he didn’t have any classes AND he had made some serious headway on his grading the night before so he was in a great mood, especially since there was only one final and some grading standing between him and going home for the summer and Boyd’s wedding.

Today was a great day.He had worked out before heading to campus, had three cups of coffee from a great shop uptown and had even indulged and gotten himself a bagel from his favorite bakery.It was definitely his favorite time of the year. He had even smiled at some people walking around campus, but that was probably the coffee and not him. 

He looked up from his phone to see Stiles practically running across campus, his long legs flying behind him.He saw it like it was slow motion, Stiles tripped and his coffee went flying in front of him, his groan was audible from even where Derek was twenty feet away.Derek broke into a jog and said, “You alright Stiles?”

Stiles looked up at him, his shirt was covered in coffee and his face was bright red. “Yup,” Stiles said popping the p and frowning.“Just dandy.”

“You look like shit,” Derek said now that he was closer he could see that Stiles looked like he hadn’t slept in a week.There was bags under his eyes and his eyes looked droopy.  

“Oh thank you,” Stiles said his voice dripping in sarcasm.“I think that I look fresh as a fucking daisy.”

“Have you slept in the past 48 hours?” Derek said as he pulled Stiles to his feet.  

“Sure,” Stiles said as he thought back over the last two days, “I think I fell asleep during my last final.”

“Let me walk you home,” Derek said as he took another sip of his coffee and frowned at the younger man. 

“I have to turn in this last paper and then I’m done with undergrad,” Stile said running a hand through his hair.“Can I have a sip of your coffee?”

Derek hesitated before handing his cup to Stiles and saying, “Let me walk with you and make sure you get there, you look like you might fall over any second.”

“Do not,” Stiles mumbled but agreed to let Derek walk with him. “This is the first time in my college career that finals got to me.”

“Senior year will do that,” Derek said nodding as they walked toward the building that Stiles had been running toward.Stiles wobbled on his feet and Derek put his hand on his back to steady him, “Let’s just get this turned in so you can sleep until graduation next week.”

Stiles laughed at that and after they dropped the paper in his professors mailbox he let Derek guide.“Where’s your apartment?”

“Fuck.” Stiles said his face falling, “Just take me to the library.”

“What, why?” Derek asked hoping Stiles didn’t have anything else to do today, the guy looked like he was going to fall asleep standing up.

“My roommate has some friends in town and they’re so fucking loud.I’ll just sleep on the quiet floor of the library until tonight.” Stiles said sounding resigned. 

“You can crash at my place, I won’t be around until later anyway I have some stuff to do around campus.” Derek said steering Stiles toward his apartment.

“No man I can’t as you to do that,” The younger man said.

“You didn’t ask, I offered.” Derek said with a shrug and he led Stiles with his hand on the other man’s shoulder.Stiles didn’t fight it, he went along and when they reached Derek’s apartment he toed his shoes off and collapsed onto Derek’s fluffy couch.  

Derek threw a blanket over Stiles and closed the blinds, he left his number on the fridge and told Stiles he was welcome to whatever he wanted inside of it.Derek didn’t think he would be awake anytime soon but he also wasn’t sure when the last time the guy had eaten was. “Thanks,” Stiles said into the pillow and Derek smiled to himself as he closed the door and locked it behind him. 

 

“I’m telling you Cora he looked dead on his feet,” Derek said into his phone as he left the library later that night.“I don’t think he would have made it home if I hadn’t found him.”

“That’s Stiles for you,” Cora said with a small laugh,”In high school he would go days without sleeping because he got these terrible nightmares after his mom died, he would get all jacked up on Adderall and just read and stay up all night.”

“Well he’s sleeping on my couch right now, or he was when I left him like nine hours ago.” Derek said frowning, only Cora would laugh at her friends issues.“I hope he’s still sleeping when I get home, he needs it.”

“Der you’ve got it so bad for the kid,” Cora said with delight, “Honestly I don’t know the last time I saw you this gone on someone, I think it was probably Paige and even then it was only for like a month.”

He signed into the phone, it was true.It wasn’t that he didn’t date, it was that he didn’t really let himself for for anyone and yet here he was letting some guy that he really barely knew sleep on his couch because he was worried about his well being.He had seen Stiles around campus all semester, usually in the library and they would exchange pleasantries and chat for a bit but nothing as intense as the first day when they ran into each other at the coffee house. 

“Yeah, yeah I know.” Derek said as he pulled out his keys and opened the door to his apartment.It was dark but he could see the faint outline of Stiles’ sleeping form.“Cor I gotta go, Stiles is still crashed on the couch.”  
“Make bad choices,” Cora said as Derek hung up the phone and stepped into the apartment.It was just after 8 at night and Derek has spent the whole day finishing up grading on the final essays for his freshman lit class.He only had one final exam for himself and he was done.He wasn’t worried about the exam at all, it was the doctoral capstone that wasn’t actually graded, just given to make sure that they weren’t letting complete idiots go onto the next stage of the program. 

He flopped down onto the lazy boy chair in the corner of the room and Stiles stirred, “What time is it?” He asked as he rolled over so that his face wasn’t buried in the back of the couch, he voice scratchy with sleep.He reached behind him and flicked on the lamp behind him and was bathed in light, his face was lined with marks from the couch.

“It’s just after 8,” Derek said before standing back up and saying, “You hungry? I was going to order some Chinese.” As if on cue Stiles stomach let out a rumble so loud that even Derek could hear it.“I’ll take that as a yes you are hungry.” He said with a laugh.

Two hours later they were both sprawled on the couch, empty Chinese food cartons on the table, the TV on in the background and Stiles was telling Derek about the hell that was his final semester of undergrad. “I didn’t think it would be that bad, I took 18 credit hours second semester junior year too but added my research assistantship really took a tool on me and to top it all off there was the breakup in February which was fine, honestly if he hadn’t done it I would have, but it was the day before the anniversary of my mom’s death so I was just a mess.”

Derek was quiet for a minute, he had never really lost anyone.Sure there had been the kitchen fire back while he was in high school but that had been put out within minutes.“I’m sorry,” was all he could really say and he put his hand on Stiles’ arm.  

He waved his had dismissively, “It was 12 years ago, I mean it still sucks but I’m alright, well I’m alright now.”Stiles is uncharacteristically quiet for a minute and then says, “So you’re going to be Dr. Hale soon?”

“Not too soon, still have a couple years left but I am done with classes and I’ll be an adjunct professor next year.” Derek said, resting his head on the back of the couch and closing his eyes.“I need some coffee.”

“No, dude I should go home, it’s like 11 and I have to pack up a ton of my shit and clean my apartment since I know my asshole roommate didn’t cleanup after his friends.”

“Oh, okay.” Derek said standing up and helping Stiles to his feet, his couch had a tendency to eat people when they sat on it for too long.“Want me to walk you to campus?”

“Um, no I’ll be okay,” Stiles said as he ran a hand over the back of his head.He looked at Derek with a smile and said, “Maybe I’ll see you in BH this summer, I’ll be there painting the town red or something.”

“I’ll be around for a while, I’ve got some stuff I have to do around town and I’m subletting my apartment for most of the summer so I’m kind of homeless if I don’t go back to Beacon Hills.” Derek said with a small smile. 

“Well, we should grab coffee at the Grind while we’re both around,” Stiles said looking at Derek rather sheepishly.There was a slight pink tinge on his cheeks as he asked the question that made Derek’s stomach swoop.He had chatted with Stiles enough to know that he didn’t embarrass easily, last month he watched the guy fall off a chair trying to plug his laptop in without getting up and he didn’t turn pink then.

“Yeah, that would be, nice.” 

“Great, well um here let me give you my number,” Stiles said grabbing Derek’s phone and programming it in.“I’ll see you around then.” Stiles said before he walked out of the apartment, the door closing quietly behind him.

Derek grabbed the empty containers off the tabled and tossed them into the trash before he looked down at his phone and saw that he had a text.

 

**Stiles Stilinski Rox My Sox:** I forgot to say thanks for saving my life earlier.

**Derek Hale:** I didn’t save your life, nice contact name by the way, I didn’t realize I had somehow traveled back to 2007.

**Stiles Stilinski Rox My Sox:** DON’T YOU DARE CHANGE IT. I’ll check next time I see you, I know your passcode Mr. ‘6789’.  

**Stiles Stilinski Rox My Sox** : And you totally did save my life, I wouldn’t have made it to the library to sleep on my own and your couch is much more comfortable than a study table.

**Derek Hale** : Well maybe next time I see you you’ll actually be a functioning human.

**Stiles Stilinski Rox My Sox** : Debatable, only if there’s coffee, we have that in common ;).I’m going to hit the sack though, somehow I’m still tired even after my 9 hour nap.

**Derek Hale:** Night Stiles.

**Stiles Stilinski Rox My Sox** : Goodnight Derek 

 

Setting his phone down on the coffee table Derek headed into his room and fell face first onto his bed.He had been trying to play if cool with Stiles every time they had run into each other and he totally didn’t change his morning routine so that he could go to the same coffee house as Stiles (okay maybe he did but they had better coffee there anyways so it was more about that).As he rolled onto his back and closed his eyes he knew that he was totally gone on the guy, had been since he corrected his manners back in December.Getting to know him had only made it worse and worse since Stiles was smart as a whip and funny and kind and caring.He knew of at least three times that Cora and Lydia had been fighting and Stiles had been the one to talk Cora out of her rage and Lydia off her high horse.

It was weird to think that Stiles had been dating Danny when they had met because ever since the breakup he hadn’t mentioned anyone else romantically, not that he would mention it to Derek.He had mentioned Danny, they were still friends, good friends apparently since Danny had gone to visit Lydia in April and they had taken a day to come to the city and see Stiles.Derek had run into them on campus and heard about Danny’s new boyfriend Ethan (surprisingly someone who _wasn’t_ from Beacon Hills).  

Derek thought that maybe, just maybe if things went well this summer he’d have a chance at taking Stiles out on a date or two or twelve, but first they’d get coffee.That seemed to be where they always ran into each other, not that Derek was complaining, his favorite mornings where the ones where he had coffee in one hand and Stiles yapping away about something or other while they both walked toward campus.He was so fucked.

 

 


	4. Four

It wasn’t that Derek hated flying, he really didn’t mind it at all, it was that to get to JFK for his 9 am flight he had to leave his apartment by 4:15 and the only decent place to get a good cup of coffee at that hour was on the other side of town so he had to settle for the 24 hour diner crap that he had managed to avoid most of the semester by going to the good coffee shop closer to campus. 

When he finally made it to JFK, made it through security and was walking toward his gate he stopped, his nose turned upward at the smell of fresh brewing coffee that filled the air.He turned on his heel to follow the sent, he still had over an hour before his flight was set to take off and he needed something to get him through it.He stopped when he heard a familiar laugh behind him, turning his head he saw Stiles Stilinski walking toward him, looking tired but much less so than the last time he had seen him, this looked like the typical, run of the mill morning tired, not the soul eating exhaustion that had encased Stiles at the end of the semester.

“I’d call you a bloodhound but that doesn’t seem accurate, maybe a coffee hound?” Stiles said with a grin.“No, that’s too light hearted, I think I’ll have to call you an addict, a coffee addict.”

Derek huffed but cracked a small smile, “I’m not an addict, I just can’t function without it and I get really bad headaches if I don’t drink it.”

Stiles laughed at that, “I could use a cup myself, your treat.” They walked together in silence.

“Good morning!” Said the chipper blonde behind the counter, “What can I get for you.”

“Large coffee black and a medium Americano with a splash of cream.” Derek said and handed her some money before turning to Stiles who gave him a look so Derek turned back to the girl and said, “Please.”

Stiles smiled triumphantly as they slid down the counter to wait for their drinks, “You know my coffee order.” He said, it wasn’t a question. 

Derek shrugged, “You spend enough time with someone at a coffee house and you learn things about them.” 

“Important things?” Stiles asked, Derek could tell he was fishing but he wasn’t sure what he was fishing for. 

“Well a man’s coffee order is the most important thing about them in my opinion,” Derek said being _mostly_ sarcastic. “So I’d say I’ve learned some important things.”

“True enough,” Stiles said as he picked up his drink off the counter and asked, “When’s your flight?”

“9 am to Vegas and then a layover before flying into San Francisco.” Derek recited from his ticket.

“No shit, me too,” Stiles said grinning as they started toward their gate.“AND it’s Southwest so if we’re in the same boarding group then we can sit together, think you can handle 5 plus hours of Stiles Stilinski?”

Derek laughed, “I think I’m up for the challenge.”

It turns out that he was more than up for the challenge.He managed to match Stiles point for point while they talked, he let Stiles sleep on his shoulder as they were flying over Nevada and woke him gently when they landed in Vegas.“Come on Stiles we’ve got to get to the next gate.”

“Five more minutes,” Stiles grumbled into Derek’s shoulder, rubbing his face into it kind of like a cat.Derek jerked his shoulder and Stiles sat bold up right and rubbed his eyes.“Sorry about that, Scott says I could sleep through an earthquake, I actually did once.”

Derek laughed as they both grabbed their carry on bags and made their way to gate 4 to wait for their flight to San Francisco.“Who’s picking you up?” Derek asked Stiles as they reached the gate.Stiles stretched his arms above his head, his shirt tugging up as he did revealing a patch of hair leading from his belly button and disappearing down into his pants.Derek turned away blushing.

“Scotty boy,” Stiles said with a smile, “Want a ride?”

“I could call Cora and tell her not to come, it doesn’t make sense for two people to drive an hour and a half from Beacon Hills.” Derek said easily and he pulled out his phone and dialed Cora’s number. “Hey little sis.”

“Is your flight delayed?” Cora said instead of hello.She sounded stressed.

“Nah, but Stiles offered to let me catch a ride with him and Scott so you don’t have to come get me.” Derek replied.

“Oh thank god, Erica is freaking out and I have to deal with her.” 

“Last minute jitters?” Derek asked trying to sound compassionate and failing miserably.Stiles grinned at him like he knew what was going on at the other end of the phone.  

“Yeah and then some.I’ll see you when you get in.Love ya bro.” Cora said and hung up the phone. 

Derek fell asleep on the next leg of the flight and woke to Stiles poking him on the forehead, “Wakey wakey.” Stiles said with a shit eating grin. 

He opened his eyes and grumbled, “Coffee.”

“Oh my god it’s like a Pavlovian response with you.Waking up equals need for coffee.” Stiles sounded gleeful. “I’ll have to run some tests on you, this could be so much fun.”

“Stiles your psych degree is showing,” Derek said with a laugh and then he added, “Congratulations on graduating summa cum laude by the way, you’re dad looked really proud in the pictures.”

“Stalking me on Facebook Mr. Hale?” Stiles said as he they walked off the plane toward the baggage claim.He nudged Derek with his shoulder and Derek nudged him back feeling his stomach drop as Stiles made contact, he was pretty sure his ears were turning a little red. “Not that I’m above Facebook stalking,” Stiles admitted as they walked, “That was a really nice dick on your face New Years Eve 2009.”

“It was my first New Years being 21!” Derek said, his voice going up an octave as he did. “I can’t be held accountable for my 21 year old self thinking it was a good idea to start the night with a power hour of champagne.” 

Stiles snorted before giving Derek an incredulous look.“You’re an idiot,” but Derek heard the affection in the tone and smiled as he nodded in agreement.“You deserved the dick on the face.” 

They reached the baggage claim just as their bags started coming out and made their way to the loading area. Scott was already there, arguing with one of the airport officials about whether or not he could be parked in the loading/unloading zone.Derek had a vague memory of the blue jeep that Scott was leaning on around Beacon Hills and he watched as Scott and Stiles leaping onto each other, practically falling to the ground and then Stiles kissed the Jeep and said, “I missed you baby.”

Scott caught Derek’s eye and they both had to stifle laughs as Stiles tried to hug the Jeep.“Come on Stiles,” Scott said grabbing the other guys arm and dragging him into the car.It was a rather uneventful car ride, Stiles and Scott caught up after having not seen each other in months.It turns out that Scott was pre-vet at Davis and got into the vet school at Penn State. “Yeah so Kira said she’d be willing to move out with me if she can find a job and she had an interview next week to teach high school biology.”

“That’s great dude!” Stiles said with a sleepy smile, “Can we stop for coffee before we get in? I have a feeling you all have a reunion planned when we get back and I won’t be awake for it if we don’t get my some go-go juice.”

“Never call it that again and we can stop,” Scott said with a laugh.

“He calls it that all the time,” Derek said from the back, he had been rather quiet for most of the drive, partly because he wanted to give the two best friends a chance to catch up but mostly because he needed some caffein. It might only be 1 in California but he had been awake for nearly 12 hours already today and it was Boyd’s stag party tonight, he needed to be ready to go.

They ended up stopping at a Starbucks drive thru about half hour outside of Beacon Hills and by the time they dropped Derek off he was feeling must more human.“I’m sure I’ll see you guys around this summer,” He said with a smile, “I can’t seem to get rid of you Stiles.”

“Like you’d want to!” Stiles chided with a shit eating grin that made Derek’s ears turn a red.“Text me if you want to get coffee or something.”

Derek nodded, thanked Scott for the ride and headed inside. Cora was sitting at the island bar in the kitchen, Lydia was sitting on the island in front of her, her one hand in Cora’s hair as they talked to Erica Reyes, one of their friends from high school who happened to be marrying Derek’s best friend Boyd next week. Allison Argent was sitting next to Erica as they all talked. 

Derek caught Cora’s eye and she gave him a half smile before jerking her head to tell him to stay out.“I mean I love him and I want to be with him forever but I just graduated from college, should I really be getting married?” He heard Erica say as he walked upstairs and dropped his bag on the bed.He checked his phone and saw Boyd had texted him.

 

**Boyd** : So we’re all meeting at Matt's apartment at 7 to pre game then heading out.You’re still coming right, the flight wasn't delayed or anything?

**Derek Hale** : Like I would miss the last time we all go out as unmarried guys.

**Boyd** : Great! See you later man.

 

Derek plugged his phone into the charger and set an alarm for 5 before rolling over and thinking about taking a nap.He could still feel the phantom pokes on his forehead from how Stiles had woken him up, the ghost of a shoulder bumping into his.He wondered if they would run into each other that night, guessing they wouldn’t since if he had to guess he would guess that Stiles and his friends would all be out with Erica.

Suddenly Derek realized that Stiles would be at the wedding.Erica was another member of their high school friend group who had stayed close with everyone.They had only ever really lost that asshat Jackson when he went to college in England, not that he was mad about that, that kid was the worst.Derek dozed off thinking about Stiles in a suite and Stiles taking off said suite.It lead to some good dreams.

 


	5. Five

The day of Boyd and Erica’s wedding dawned bright and early, the alarm on Derek’s phone was blaring ‘Here Comes the Bride’.He had a feeling that Stiles or Cora had changed it last night at the rehearsal dinner since usually it just beeped.The ceremony was set to start at one with pictures after and then the reception starting at 4.

Derek rolled himself out of bed, threw on a pair of sweats and a white undershirt, grabbed his suite that was on the closet door and walked out of his room.Cora must have already left since her room was mercifully empty.“Morning sweetheart,” his mom said pressing a cup of coffee into his hand.He took a sip as he sat down at the island in the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl.“What time do you need to be at the church?”

“10:30 but I’m on coffee and ring duty so I have to go pick that up.” Derek said as he finished his cup of coffee. He had practically chugged it because he was running a little late but he needed it before he left the house. “I’ll see you there, thanks for the coffee,” He kissed his mom on the cheek before retreating out of the house and into his car.He was really grateful that his parents let him store it at their house while he lived in the city.

He swung by the jeweler first since it was on his way to the Grind and once he safely had the rings tucked into his suite pocket on the seat next to him he pulled into the Grind and parked the car.He missed the early morning rush and it was pretty slow for a Saturday morning which he was grateful for. 

He approached the door of the shop, two drink carriers stacked on top of each other when he was almost run over by a very frantic looking Stiles. “Sorry! Sorry!” He said as he looked up and saw Derek standing there. “Holy fuck hi.”

Derek laughed, “Running late Stilinski?” 

“No! Me? Never!” Stiles said as he walked passed Derek and said, “Just got sent on a coffee run for the bridal party, my lucky day.I’m guessing I’ll see you there?”

“At the alter.” Derek said and the he felt his ears turn red, “With Boyd, by Boyd.I’m the best man.” The words tumbles out of his mouth like vomit.“I’ll see you later.” He turn quickly and left the shop, setting the coffees safely on the passenger side floor before taking off for the church.

Boyd was in a back room, his cousin and their friend Matt with him, his buddy from college walked in right after.“I come bearing the blood of life,” Derek announced, handing out the respective coffees and taking a large gulp of his own, he was going to need it if he was going to get through the day. 

Boyd nodded in thanks, taking a swig of his drink and looking at his suite that was handing on the door.“Guess we should get dressed, the photographer will be here in twenty and Erica will beat me if she doesn’t get some good pictures of both parties before the wedding.”

Derek laughed but he knew it was true, “You’re future wife is kind of scary.” He said to Boyd as they all pulled on their button down shirts and drank their coffee.“I’d avoid spilling if I were you,” he added as a bit of coffee dribbled out of Matt’s mouth and missed his shirt by inches. “Erica will end you.”

 

The ceremony when out without a hitch.Derek couldn’t help but laugh when Stiles, Scott and Isaac jumped up and screamed when Boyd and Erica kissed, Erica’s hand on the back of his neck and his arms tight around her waist.He may have even joined it. He caught Cora’s eye and saw she was grinning, her fingers laced with Lydia’s as they stood behind Erica, her eyes wet with tears.His totally weren’t though (okay maybe a little).

After nearly two hours of pictures Derek’s face hurt from all the smiling and he welcomes the break that was the cocktail hour.He grimaced at the bartender when he tried to smile and said, “Please tell me you have Crown?”The bartender nodded and Derek said, “Double on the rocks please.”

He took the drink with a grateful nod and put a 20 in the tip jar for good measure.He loved that Erica’s parents had splurged on the open bar but he also knew from his own bar tending days that open bar didn’t always mean the bartender was getting paid well. The whiskey burned on its way down but it was a welcome burn, now if only he had coffee to go with it.

People were filtering in to the back yard of the country club, he stood off to the side watching at people walked in.Cora and Lydia were chatting with Isaac and Allison, Scott and his girlfriend, Kira something, someone he had met at college, were both drinking colorful pink drinks and giggling about something, he even saw Danny and his new boyfriend, a good looking guy who was a couple inches shorter than him.His eyes were peeled for any new people entering, not for Stiles though, no way. 

There was a tap on his shoulder, when he turned Stiles was standing next to him, his long fingers wrapped around a cup of coffee with the Grinds logo on it.“I got you a little something.”

“I could kiss you,” Derek said taking the cup from Stiles and taking a sip, “This has been the longest day, I don’t think I’ll ever smile again.”

“Oh come on, I love that smile. Lemme see it.” Stiles said, elbowing him in the ribs and taking a sip of his own coffee.Derek half smiled at him, the muscles in his face still hurting from the hours of pictures before, “There it is.” Stiles said with awide grim that made Derek’s stomach flip. 

“Whatever,” Derek said sipping the coffee again, “This coffee is everything I ever wanted in life, you are a beautiful angel.”  

“You’re making me blush big guy.” Stiles said leaning into Derek and smiling again.Derek saw Cora watching them and looked away quickly.  

“How’d you know I’d need coffee.” Derek asked, taking another swig of the coffee that was almost gone now. 

“I know you,” Stiles said simply as he finished his own cup and set it on a nearby table because there were no trash cans.“You always need coffee, it’s like the blood of life for you.”

Derek smiled a small smile at the phrase he had used earlier that morning to describe coffee. “I guess you do know me.”

“Now buy me a drink dude, I’m pretty sure there’s a law against sober wedding receptions and since my dad’s the sheriff I like to avoid breaking laws.” Stiles said grabbing Derek by the arm and tugging him toward one of the bars. 

“It’s an open bar.” Derek said with a laugh. 

“Then you’ll have to buy me a drink some other time.” Stiles said with a wink as he leaned up against the bar and ordered himself a gin and tonic, “And whatever this handsome dudes having, on me.” He gave Derek another one of his shit eating grins and handed him another Crown on the rocks.  

Derek sipped the whiskey as he watched Stiles drink his gin and tonic, his tongue swirling around the straw as he tried to find it without looking.He groaned internally as he watched, trying to pull his eyes away but struggling because it was such a turn on.He could feel Cora and Lydia watching them and he slugged back the rest of his drink before saying, “Dinner should be starting soon, I’ll find you after.”

 

He was on his 4th whiskey when he stood up to give his best man speech.“I’ve known Vernon Boyd for a lo-ooong time, since third grade when he moved here from SoCal.He was pretty quiet and I had glasses and a gap tooth but he stuck up for me when I got picked on and then I stuck up for him when he got teased, it was a friendship match made in heaven, he even dealt with having my kid sister tagging along.”

Derek shot Cora a smile while she made a face at him, “That same kid sister who’s sitting at this table now.Boyd and Erica met when Cora brought home another stray her freshman year of high school.They weren’t an instant connection though, it took him until her high school graduation to ask her out, and then everything fell into place.”

He nodded toward Erica and Boyd who were holding hands on the table, Erica smirked at him, “I grew up lucky, two parents who loved him, great family and great friends but I always thought that love was something that only happened to old people, to parents but then I saw how Boyd looked at Erica and I realized that love is something that happens when you find the right person.They balance each other out, Boyd is still quiet but Erica opens him up, Erica is slightly terrifying and stronger than almost anyone I know and Boyd helps her keep her cool.They’re a perfect fit.”

“So let’s all raise a glass to love and to this couple that was lucky enough to find it.I hope that one day I get to be with the person who balances me out as well as they do each other.You two give me hope that one day I will.” He raised his glass and toasted them, tying to ignore the wetness in his eyes and the way they kept darting to Stiles as he spoke. 

Boyd clapped him on the back as he sat down and Erica leaned over him as she whispered, “Go get your guy Hale, we’re all sick of watching you both pine from afar.”

Derek rolled his eyes at her as he went back to eating his dinner and before long the DJ was starting and Erica and Boyd were dancing their first dance as a married couple.Stiles sidled up next to Derek, leaning into him as he whispered, “They look so happy.” Derek nodded as Stiles continued, “You’re speech was beautiful.” 

“Thanks,” Derek said as he watched Boyd dip Erica and kiss her.“I’m really happy for them.”The song changed to something a little more fast paced, Boyd and Erica were still wrapped up in each other as other people entered the dance floor.

Scott grabbed Stiles and said, “Dude! It’s our song.”Stiles shot Derek an apologetic look as he was dragged onto the dance floor and started to sing _Hold On_ by Wilson Philips. He smiled at the group of Cora’s friends who were dancing and lost in each other.He had never had a friend like that, let alone a huge group of friends that were all so close.  

 

“Derek!” Stiles yelled and gestured wildly at him to join.It was nearly 9 now, everyone was comfortably buzzed, or in Isaac’s case **very** drunk. Allison was practically holding him up as he waxed poetically about her smile.  

Derek joined them on the dance floor, a whiskey ginger in one hand and a gin and tonic in the other.He handed it to Stiles with a smile and joined in the dancing.Cora grabbed his hand and made him twirl her.He spotted Lydia sitting with Allison and Isaac, Scott and Kira wrapped up in each other and Erica and Boyd dancing with Boyd’s cousins. 

“We’re gonna slow it down now, grab a partner and get lost in love.” The DJ said as he put on _Love Me Tender_.The croon of Elvis played over the speakers.Cora grabbed Derek and Stiles’ drinks and said, “Would you two just get it over with and dance so we can get this unresolved sexual tension out of the air.”

Derek flushed and Stiles said, “Dance with me Hale.” He threw is arms around Derek’s neck and Derek placed his hands on his hips.“I wanted to do this all night,” Stiles said as they swayed, his head resting on Derek’s shoulder.

“Oh really?” Derek asked as he pulled him closer so their bodies were flush against each other.“It’s kinda warm in here, want to get out from under the tent and get some air.”

Stiles nodded and Derek led him away from the crowd toward the dark corner of the yard where there was a bench swing. “So, unresolved sexual tension?” Stiles asked as they sat down, it was cooler away from everyone and the breeze felt nice on Derek’s warm face.

“We could try resolving it.” Derek said with a smirk.

“Did you just use a line on me?” Stiles asked with a laugh, “You totally just used a line on me.”As he spoke he moved closer to Derek, their faces inches apart.Derek could feel his breath on his cheeks, smell the gin and lime. 

Derek bridged the gap between them, their lips meeting with a jolt of electricity and fire. His hand found it’s way to the back of Stiles’ neck pulling him closer. When they broke apart moments (or hours) later Stiles said, “I don’t think it’s resolved yet.”

They both laughed as Stiles rested his head on Derek’s shoulder again, “Maybe we can get breakfast tomorrow?” Derek asked hoping the answer would be yes.

“I think I can swing that. We’re all crashing at your parents house tonight anyway.” Stiles said kissing Derek’s neck and jaw, working his way back to his lips before sealing them together again.Derek couldn’t get enough.

There was a cough that caused them to break apart, Lydia was standing there, her hands on her hips.“As glad as we all are that you guys are doing this so we can stop hearing about it, Boyd and Erica are leaving, some see them off.”

She turned on her heal and walked back toward the tent where there was a crowd forming to see the happy couple go.Derek and Stiles stood up and walked over, hands linked together. Erica saw them as they walked passed and said, “Fucking finally,” Before she and Boyd got into the limo and rode off. 

“So you’re staying at my parents place tonight?” Derek asked, they were all piling into the limo that the bridal party had rented to take them back.He had his hand on Stiles’ waist, thumb touching the skin on his back that was exposed when his shirt came untucked. 

“Yeah,” Stiles said his voice cracking. “A regular slumber party in the basement like old times.”

“You could sleep somewhere else,” Derek said with a smirk.The limo pulled in front of the Hale house and everyone clambered out.Derek and Stiles were the last out, Cora gave them a knowing look as they all drunkenly stumbled toward the door.Derek stopped and grabbed Stiles by the hand, gently shoving him against the house.

Stiles met him in the middle, lips crashing together.It was warm and safe but also hot and dangerous. Stiles had his hands on Derek’s ass, pulling him as close to him as possible.Derek broke the kiss and said, “As much as I want to sleep with you, which is a lot, I don’t want to mess this up.”

Stiles sighed against Derek’s mouth, “Me either.”He placed a gentle kiss on Derek’s mouth, “Maybe for tonight we just sleep?”

Derek nodded and they went into the house and up to Derek’s room.Stiles stripped off his dress shirt and pants revealing Batman boxers and a wife beater tank top.Derek laughed as he pulled off his pants revealing Superman boxers.“Twins.” Stiles said laughing too as they crawled into the bed.“Never thought this would happen.”

“Why not,” Derek asked as he wrapped an arm around Stiles, smiling to himself.

“You’re _Derek Hale_ and I’m me.” Stiles said with a laugh, “I dreamed about it but never thought I would ever get you.”

“You’ve got me.” Derek said smiling and kissing Stiles on the neck before closing his eyes and saying, “Night Stiles.”

Stiles mumbled goodnight back and as Derek drifted off he felt content for the first time in a long time.Maybe it was his turn to get lucky and find love, real love like the kind that his friends had and his parents.Maybe every love lost was just leading him here to this.If that was the case he’d take 1000 heartbreaks to get to hold Stiles like this every time.Yeah it was a good thing they didn’t have sex that night, he didn’t want to ruin this. 

 


	6. +1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the times Derek didn't need coffee....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you SO much for reading! I hope you liked it!!

Derek never thought that there would be a day where he didn't wake up with the first thought in his head wasn’t ‘must have coffee’ but in the past eleven months and 3 days that he had been back in New York had only been the first thought on days where Stiles wasn’t in his bed. When he rolled over to see the pale shape flung across the mattress, his first thought was to kiss every inch of exposed skin that he could.

  
They had woken up the day after the wedding and gotten breakfast at Derek’s favorite diner, which turned out to be Stiles favorite as well, which lead to a series of dates in Beacon Hills. By the end of summer Stiles father, the sheriff, expected Derek at his weekly Sunday cookouts as the Hales expected Stiles at their weekly family brunch on Saturdays, it felt like something out of a movie to Derek.

  
When August 1st rolled around Derek kissed Stiles goodbye at the airport and said, “You’re coming back to New York in five days, we can make it five days without seeing each other.” He was wrong, they ended up Skyping on day three and he met Stiles at JFK. To any onlookers it would have seemed like they hadn’t seen each other in months, not just days.

  
Stiles and Derek hadn’t had the chance to spend the night together again while they were both in Beacon Hills so when Stiles got into NYC, it was natural that they wanted to have a sleep over, which turned into him staying over almost every night. They were always at Derek’s because Stiles had a roommate who was even worse than his roommate before and they wanted the privacy, plus Derek liked waking up and not having his first thought he about coffee. He liked the lazy way that Stiles got out of bed, the way he kissed Derek even though they had morning breath, he liked the way Stiles just fit into his life.

  
It was a morning in May, finals had just ended for Stiles and he survived his first year of grad school (he had more than survived actually, finishing the year with a 3.9), Derek had managed to get offered an adjunct professor position at NYU while he worked on finishing his dissertation at Columbia and things were going great between them, Derek woke to the smell of coffee in the apartment and when he rolled over Stiles was still in bed.

  
“Who’s making coffee?” He asked, his voice rough with sleep. His eyes were only half open, but he could see that Stiles was doing his usual sprawl across the king size bed. Derek had to buy a bigger bed when it became clear that Stiles wasn’t going anywhere.

  
“I set the pot to brew at 9,” Stiles said without opening his eyes. He puckered his lips like he was expecting a kiss and Derek happily obliged.  
“My pot doesn’t have a timer on it.” Derek had a very old coffee pot that he loved because he had had it since his freshman year of college, but it didn’t have all the bells and whistles that some of the newer pots had, and okay so sometimes it didn’t work at all.

  
“I brought mine over,” Stiles grumbled as he burrowed into Derek’s chest.

  
“Are you sneak moving in?” Derek asked with a laugh.

  
“Who, me?” Stiles asked, trying to sound innocent. He failed.

  
“You ruined my anniversary present.” Derek said as he wrapped his arm around Stiles. “I was going to ask you to move in with me next month.”  
“Beat you,” Stiles said, kissing Derek’s neck as he swung himself out of the bed. “I can’t believe we’ve been together for almost a year.” He walked out of the room and returned a few minutes later with a cup of coffee clutched in his hands, “Want some?”

  
“Nah, I’m good,” Derek said as he sat up in bed and smiled at his boyfriend.

  
Stiles set down the coffee and grabbed his phone, “Cora we have a problem, your brother has been replaced with a pod person. He didn’t want coffee when I offered him some.”

  
Derek heard Cora laugh and he shoved Stiles lightly. “Yeah, we can’t wait to see you either! You guys are getting in at 5? Okay, cool, we’ll see you then.” He hung up the phone and looked at Derek. “Are we ready for them to be here?”

  
“We will never be ready for Cora and Lydia to be together in the same small place.” Derek answered and then said,”Okay I will take a sip of that coffee now.”  
“That’s the Derek I know and love.” Stiles said, handing him the cup and kissing him on the forehead.

  
Derek laid back in bed, he could hear the Frank Sinatra playing softly from the kitchen as Stiles made breakfast. He had learned over the last year that Stiles wasn’t a morning person, but once he was up and out of bed, he could take on the world, that he liked to listen to the classics (classics are what make the world go round Derek) while he cooked, while he cleaned and while he wrote.

  
The smell of bacon wafted into the bedroom and not for the first time Derek wondered how he had gotten so lucky. He pulled himself out of the bed, not bothering to find a shirt, and made his way to the kitchen. Stiles was standing at the stove, poking the bacon in one pan and scrambling eggs in another. Derek reached into the pile of finished meat and Stiles swatted his hand with the spatula. Derek laughed and stuck his tongue out at the younger man. “When do you want to move the rest of your stuff over here?”

  
Stiles smiled at that, “It’s just my dressed and some clothes, plus my lease isn’t up for another 2 weeks, we’ve got time.”

  
“What about your bed?” Derek asked as he ate another piece of bacon and Stiles rolled his eyes. Derek lived in a two bedroom apartment, but the second room had functioned as an office and storage for the past 4 years.

  
“Do we have room?”

  
“We could turn the office into a guest room,” Derek said as he kissed Stiles on the cheek and buttered the toast that had popped out of the toaster. “If we rent a van today we can have it all set up for Cora and Lydia and we won’t have to sleep on the couch.”

  
Stiles smiled widely at that idea and said, “Well, let’s hurry through breakfast so we can get a movin’.”

Four hours later, both Derek and Stiles were drenched in sweat, but they had managed to move the bed, the dressed and a few of Stiles other odds and ends. The bed fit into the spare room, even with the desk and Stiles dressed, looked right at home in the bedroom. “I’m just going to sell my couch and other crap on Craiglist, we don’t need it.” Stiles said as he stepped out of the shower.

  
Derek smiled as he looked at the man that he had gotten lucky enough to call his own, his eyes looking around the apartment where he could see Stiles had started to insert himself months ago. There was a picture of Stiles parents on their wedding day next to Derek’s parents' wedding picture on an end table, pictures of Stiles friends stuck on the fridge, mixed in with Derek’s pictures. But more than that were were pictures of the two of them, one of them from the wedding, one from a weekend trip to Boston to see Lydia, one in Central Park.

  
Stiles fit so seamlessly into his life that he hadn’t even noticed him move into it. “Lydia and Cora will be here soon,” Stiles said as he snuck up behind Derek and wrapped his arms around his waist, “Need a cup of coffee to survive the night?”

  
“I’m good,” Derek said, twisting around to face Stiles, a wide grin on his face, “I’ve got you.”

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](sterekseason.tumblr.com)


End file.
